I realized when I was planning this post that nut butters are one food that both healthy eaters and junk food eaters can usually agree on. Now healthy eaters may go for unsweetened, organic varieties and junk food eaters the sweetened grocery store kind, but still it is a generally universally appealing food.
Often people use nut butters as a source of protein in their diet, but it isn't generally all that high in protein. I typically use it as a source of fat. So I was pretty stoked about the idea of high protein nut butters which were sent to me by Bowmar Nutrition. Two tablespoons has 10g of protein compared to about 6g for regular almond butter. They sent me 3 flavours to try:
1. Cake Pop Cashew
2. Cinnamon Crunch Cereal
3. Apple Pie Almond
Even though my kids are not the biggest nut butter fans (I know I just said everyone loves them but my kids are weird), I thought they would like these flavours. But the teenager blows hot and cold with nut butters and the tween only occasionally eats an apple with peanut butter as a snack. The tween tasted them all and was meh, but she has never liked almond butter and the almond butter taste comes through with the Cinnamon Crunch Cereal and Apple Pie varieties. The teen just was not interested in them period. WTF? Even weirder, the husband who lives on peanut butter, was weirded out by the idea of sweetened almond and cashew butters (they are sweetened with a mix of sugar, xylitol and stevia). We had a discussion about this and he explained that he sees it as something that should be savory not sweet. Huh? That makes no sense to me. Even if I use nut butters for a savory dish I see it as adding sweetness. Anyways, my husband is also a weirdo.
I tasted all 3 and though I adore cinnamon, I much prefer cashew butter to almond butter so the Cake Pop Cashew was my favorite. My only complaint is the sprinkles. They are added sugar that is unnecessary. I am not a sprinkles person.
In any case, since I don't eat much bread (I am not low carb, I just prefer other carbs), I think for me, I would use these spreads to drizzle on fruit, or oatmeal or to bake with. In fact, I ended up dumping the cashew variety into a sauce pan and heating it up over low heat and then adding in 2 cups of chocolate chips. I stirred until smooth and combined and then removed from heat and poured into parchment lined square bake pan and refrigerated until firm. Voila, high protein fudge!
So do I recommend these spreads? Well if like me you enjoy nut butters as something sweet, than certainly. But because of the added sugar, and chocolate chips/candy things added they are a treat. The healthiest varieties are the Chocolate Hazelnut and Peanut Butter Cookie varieties which don't have junk added.
Disclosure: I was sent these products to review but all opinions on this blog are my own.
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